Smartphone Technology Meets Personalized Medicine in Everist Genomics' CardioDefender Diagnostic System

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Jan. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Everist Genomics announced today that Executive Vice Chairman Alex Charlton will speak about its breakthrough CardioDefender Device at the Wearable Technologies Conference, January 30, 2012, in Munich.

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Smartphone healthcare applications are graduating from novelty items to mainstream medicine, helping physicians to save lives and reduce the cost of care.  Everist Genomics, a rapidly growing personalized medicine company, is successfully integrating smartphone and tablet computer technology with innovative, medically important diagnostics and prognostics in the areas of cardiovascular disease, metabolic disease (e.g. diabetes) and cancer.  Everist Genomics' CardioDefender is the world's first FDA-approved and CE mark-registered smartphone ECG system to provide physicians and patients with hospital-quality heart rhythm monitoring outside of the hospital setting.  CardioDefender incorporates several unique capabilities enabling physicians to diagnose and treat potentially life-threatening heart arrhythmias that might otherwise be missed.  CardioDefender is the first system to deliver mobile, real-time, beat-by-beat, and quantitative heart monitoring and automated reporting by combining patented analytical smartphone software with a Wi-Fi device and electrodes.

"The essence of personalized medicine is to diagnose a problem before there are noticeable symptoms. Physicians who diagnose and treat heart arrhythmias have been hampered for many years by legacy technology, such as hospital based ECG systems which confine patients to the high-cost hospital setting and Holter monitors which do not provide the comprehensive monitoring needed to detect potentially life threatening arrhythmias," Charlton said. "For the first time, CardioDefender enables smartphone-based hospital-quality ECG monitoring of patients 24 hours per day, seven days per week."

The company's recently announced commercialization plans of CardioDefender coincide with reports from various industry sources projecting significant growth in remote patient monitoring.  According to analyst firm Berg Insight, for example, around 2.2 million patients worldwide were using home monitoring service based on equipment with integrated connectivity at the end of 2011—cardiac arrhythmia was cited as one of the most common conditions monitored by these technologies.(1)

Following FDA approval and European CE Mark registration last year, CardioDefender has already been deployed at more than 150 medical facilities in the United States for post-approval commercial evaluation.  Between January and October of 2011, the number of patient days of heart rhythm monitoring performed with CardioDefender grew from fewer than 5,000 to more than 18,000 patient days per month. Since the system was introduced, Everist Genomics has received inquiries about the product from more than 32 countries, including China, India and the U.S.

"We are very pleased with the success of the commercial evaluation of CardioDefender and the overwhelming level of interest we have received regarding the availability of the diagnostic system," Charlton said. "The invitation to speak at the highly-esteemed Wearable Technologies Conference further underscores the value of this innovative mobile system in advancing care for arrhythmia patients."

Everist Genomics launched its first product last year with the introduction of OncoDefender-CRC, a prognostic test for predicting the risk of disease recurrence for early stage colorectal cancer patients. The company expanded its pipeline with the creation of a new franchise of diagnostic and prognostic tests aimed at melding personalized medicine with mobile health platforms.   In addition to the CardioDefender diagnostic system, Everist Genomics recently announced development of AngioDefender, the world's first tablet computer device capable of accurately diagnosing atherosclerosis in asymptomatic patients.  The company is developing mobile applications for the AngioDefender system to extend physician access to vital patient information and provide clinical support for treatment planning. The company plans to launch the AngioDefender system in February 2012.

About Everist Genomics

Everist Genomics is a prognostics company focused on developing gene-based molecular assays for the prediction of cancer recurrence and proprietary point-of-care equipment for the evaluation and management of cardiovascular disease. Using its patented Evolver™ technology platform, Everist Genomics is successfully developing and commercializing entirely new classes of patent-protected molecular biomarkers and sensor technologies which employ proprietary equipment, devices and software to help physicians make individualized treatment and drug prescribing decisions.  The privately owned company is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  For more information, please visit www.everistgenomics.com.

About The Wearable Technologies Conference

On January 30, 2012, for the fifth time in a row, the Wearable Technologies Conference will take place in line with ISPO in Munich.  This exciting conference, sponsored by Philips, offers industry leaders from notable companies such as Roche and Adidas, as well as emerging companies, a unique platform to present their latest innovations from the field of healthcare. 

This year's conference will feature two areas of interest, namely the newest developments in the areas of "Sports & Consumers" and "Health & Fitness."  In addition to novel technologies in development, the 2012 WTconference will present products ready for market. These days, technologies worn on or near the body are experiencing a real boom. The first WT products, those interesting to a wider market, are recording resounding successes.  In addition, the many innovative technologies that have just reached the market stage have become all the more important to those manufacturers who can use the new technologies in a variety of their products.

More information on the conference can be found at www.wearable-technologies.com/wt-conference.

(1) http://www.berginsight.com/News.aspx?m_m=6&s_m=1

SOURCE Everist Genomics